A natural insecticide from catnip : this is the futuristic scenario outlined by research just published in the prestigious international journal Heliyon (Elsevier group) and edited by researchers Emmanuele Farris and Alfredo Maccioni of the University of Sassari (Department of Chemical, Physical and , Mathematical and Natural).
Collaborators include Silvia Macis , currently a PhD student at the University of Cagliari (Department of Life and Environmental Sciences), and Marc Gibernau , senior researcher at the University of Corsica – CNRS (Ajaccio Environmental Science Laboratory) .
This is a first and concrete result brought about by the PNRR e.INS – Ecosystem of Innovation for Next Generation Sardinia project, led by the University of Sassari: the researchers tried to understand whether catnip (Teucrium marum, family of the Lamiaceae, the same as thyme and rosemary), a small aromatic shrub that lives in the low Mediterranean maquis (garigue) of the western Mediterranean islands, had a different phytochemical profile between coastal and mountain populations. By studying some coastal and other mountain populations in Sardinia (Alghero, Capo Sant'Elia, Costa Paradiso, Osilo, Monte Limbara and Supramonte di Urzulei), they not only found an affirmative answer, but they also ascertained that the essential oil of the coastal populations it is characterized by a large quantity of Dolichodial, a biomolecule with a strong insecticide action.
«This research, activated thanks to a funding from the Sardinia Foundation and refined thanks to the PNRR, represents a classic example of an ecological scientific investigation, which unexpectedly leads to implications of considerable economic potential – comments Emmanuele Farris , coordinator of the study and referent of spoke 9 of e.INS (Environmental Heritage) for the University of Sassari - As part of e.INS, we are working to improve the management of regional green infrastructures and enhance the natural capital they contain. The first results that we publish are very encouraging, as, in addition to giving us interesting scientific answers, they tell us that the stony areas with sparse vegetation of our coasts and mountains, often considered economically marginal, are in reality a precious reservoir of biodiversity , which, if used sustainably, it can be the basis of high-tech green supply chains».
The newly published study is entitled "Phytochemical diversity within and among Sardinian populations of the endemic Teucrium marum L. (Lamiaceae) is determined by ecological factors" and can be consulted online.
(Unioneonline/vl)
